I am a professional knife sharpener. I am shopping for a hand guided sharpener to sharpen at a Farmers Market that will not let me use my tormek etc. I am trying to decide whether to get the Eze Sharp or an Edge Pro. The big differeance seems to be the stones. The Eze Sharp uses full size stones and Edge pro much smaller. Will replacing the small stones become expensive? Can I use water stones on the EZ sharp? What advice do you have for usng both me?

I use my edge pro for knives both large and small with fantastic results. I like to free hand sharpen, but at events I prefer a guided system. If I have access to electricity at an event I mostly use a guided system on a belt sander.

“The more I know about people, the better I like my dog.” – Mark Twain

I dunno, if you accept $5 to sharpen one knife that makes you professional. I was just taking the OP at face value. Me, I couldn't make much money with an EP because I'm a pretty slow sharpener when I'm not using my Kalamazoo!

I've done a few chisels and other tools, but I'm not an expert woodworker. But I imagine you're right, any pro woodworker or dedicated amateur worth his or her salt can sharpen their own tools. I've also never used a Tormek, so I don't know how useful it is for 'professional' sharpening. In my few decades of being into knives I've known some guys that like that machine. Me, I'm all about stones and belts.

Personally I agree with your definition of professional. One really should know various techniques before hanging out their shingle as a Pro.

FWIW some guys are pretty fast with one. I dunno if you know Chico B. but he set his up at Gander and sharpened for years there. Made pretty good money and got pretty fast. He now does mostly kitchen knives IIRC, works in Mark Richmond's general neck of the woods. He's all EP all the time.